The last time I saw my awesome amigo Nacho Vigalondo, it was at a Sundance party during which he was A) very thrilled to have his film play the festival, B) mega-elated that writer/producer Steven Zaillian would be involved in the English-language remake of his film (Timecrimes), and C) seriously drunk and hanging out with an overworked karaoke machine. When I pressed him for additional details, he said something to the effect of "I don't know yet, but .... Steve SALE-IAN, man! He wrote Bobby Fischer and Gangs of New York, man..." To which I responded, "Yeah, dude. Damn good writer. Plus Schindler's List, A Civil Action, American Gangster, and the awesome Falcon and the Snowman!"The drunken Spaniard's eyes went absolutely wide: "Steve SALE-IAN is remaking my movieeeee!" He was like a little kid on Christmas morning, I swear. It was an awesomely sweet thing to see. But since we weren't really sure about Mr. Zaillian's specific attachment to the remake, this fresh news is also pretty exciting. Wouldn't it be cool if the Timecrimes remake had a Steve Zaillian screenplay and a director named ... David Cronenberg?? (I've seen Timecrimes more than once, and I think Mr. Cronenberg would be a perrrrrrrrfect fit for this time-travel / serial killer material.)
The United Artists re-do is still in the very early stages, so we could see a lot of personnel changes before the American version of Timecrimes hits the scene -- but given how positive the reaction has been among festival audiences, flick-buyers, and remake makers, we might just see it a little sooner than later. In the meantime, keep an eye out for the original film, which is a favorite among the Magnolia gang, and should be getting a release some time later this year.
Gracias: Shock and Blogdecine
Our pals from Magnolia Pictures were up at Sundance 2008 in support of 
Several days ago I wrote 
